By James Bailey Would you rather be lucky or good? Over the course of 162 games it helps to have both on your side. Of course, even with a fair dose of luck, some guys still aren’t all that productive. When scanning through the Bill James Handbook I like to note discrepancies between a pitcher’s [...]
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By Thom Henninger Statistics show the deck is stacked against major league hitters when they have two strikes, as they have a .186 two-strike average in 2009. Facing Giants ace Tim Lincecum with two strikes almost guarantees a one-way ticket to the bench. Hitters are batting just .106 (33-for-312) against him, and that’s the lowest [...]
By Thom Henninger The bullpen looked like the Minnesota Twins’ weak link going into the 2009 season. The team had lost its eighth-inning guy, Pat Neshek, to Tommy John surgery last fall, and the free-agent answer was Luis Ayala, coming off a poor season with Washington.
By Thom Henninger There’s another side of the 3-0 count covered Wednesday — the pitcher’s side. It’s a ticket for trouble to start 3-0 to a hitter, as all 2009 plate appearances that have gone that route have generated a .755 on-base percentage. There are 39 major league hurlers who have opened with three straight [...]
By Chuck Miller It’s April 16, 2010, and you just paid your taxes (hopefully got a refund). What to do? Well, if you’re in a position to go to a National League Central game, you may just see history. If next year follows suit, as has happened in each of the past two seasons there [...]
By Thom Henninger A second trip to the plate is a hitter’s chance to make adjustments to the pitches and pitch sequences he and his teammates saw over the opening innings of a game. The second time through the batting order is a key battleground for pitchers as well. What worked the first time may [...]
By Bill Begley Some art is subtle, delivered with a light touch. Some art is brusque, aggressive in its presentation. Appreciation of either depends on the beholder. But these days, it seems, there is little subtle and even less appreciated about the art of pitching inside.
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By James Bailey One of the keys during Tampa Bay’s run to the AL pennant last season was their bullpen, which ranked third in the league with a 3.55 ERA. Just about every time Joe Maddon raised his arm someone trotted out of the pen and came to the rescue. Grant Balfour was sensational, posting [...]
